Expansible bung.



Nn. 689,948. Patented Dec. 3|, I90I.

QG. W. BERNAUEB.

EXPANSIBLE BUNG.

(Application med sept. 22, 19nd.)

(No Model.)

me Hemus man: co.. momump., wsnmmcu. u. c.

UNitrnn STATES PATET OFFICE.

GEORGE IV. BERNAUER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXPANSIBLE BUNG.

SIPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,948, dated December 31, 1901.

Application filed September 22,1900. Serial No. 30,807. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BERNAUER, of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expansible Bu n gs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in expansible bungs for repeated use in barrels and the like; and it has for its object to provide a construction of extremely simple parts capable of bein g very cheaply manufactured and forming an efficient, durable, and convenient device of the character referred to.

To this end the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and the same will he readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my invention, the parts being shown in the position assu med when the hung is contracted or in readiness to be removed from its seat. Fig. 2 is an axial sectional view of the same, taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a top or outer plan View. Fig. 4 is a plan view looking upon the inner face of the lower end member of the plug, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the inner or under surface of the top member of the plug.

Referring to the drawings, l designates a hollow plug having its exterior suitably tapered to facilitate its entrance within a bunghole and made internally substantially cylindric, said bung being preferably made of vulcanized rubber capable of being expanded.

2 3 designate metal end pieces or disks adapted to lit against the opposite end walls and pzftly within the hollow plug 1. The outer member 2 is provided with a projecting peripheral flange 4, adapted to rest upon the upper end of the hollow plug 1, and has the central portion of its body depressed, the periphery of such depressed portion being beveled or of conical formation, as shown at 5, which conical portion is adapted to fit within the end of the plug and to expand and force the latter outwardly. The lower or inner member 3 is provided upon its inner side adjacent. to its periphery with a iiat annular shoulder G, adapted to rest upon the proximate end of the hollow plug, and inside of this annular shoulder with an annular supporting-liange 7, the outer surface of which is inclined inwardly or made slightly conical, as indicated clearly in the drawings, so that when the hollow plug is compressed between said end members this flange will act as a support, which will prevent the plug from expanding inwardly to any considerable extent. At its center said inner member 3 is provided with a boss 8, which is axially apertured, as indicated at i), and threaded to receive a compressi ng-screw lO, which extends through a corresponding aperture 11 in the upper or ou ter member 2. The upper surface of the member 2 is provided with a recess 12 to receive the head 13 of the compressingscrew, so that the latter may lie flush with the outer surface of the bung, and in order that the screw may be rotated it is provided in its head with recesses or slots 13 for the engagement of a suitable tool-as, for example, that shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The inner end of the screw extends entirely through the boss 8 of the inner member 3, and in order to prevent the complete disengagement of the parts said screw is provided at its end with a headed portion 1-1, conveniently formed by means of'a washer riveted upon the end of the screw. In order that the aperture thus formed through the end piece may be sealed and at the same time a recess or cavity 14' formed within which the end of the screw may extend when the plug is expanded, said lower member 3 is provided with an annular Iiange forming a hollow nipple l5 concentric with the screw-aperture therein, and upon this flange is arranged to fit a cap 16, which is soldered or otherwise permanently secured in position after the parts have been assembled.

In order that the disks or end pieces 2 3 may be held from rotation relatively to each other while at the same time they are drawn together or separated by the compressingscrew, one of said members-as, for example, the member 2-is provided with a pair of depending prongs or parallel guides 17, and the boss S ot' the opposite member is provided with a rib 18, adapted to t between said prongs, and thus hold said members from rotation relatively to each other.

In order that the tool shown in Fig. G may IOC lips 0c, adapted to engage said recesses, so

that the bu ng may be lifted or pulled out. Desirably, also, the tool is provided with a centering-prong y, which engages a corresponding recess 19, formed in the center of the screw-head, thereby serving to facilitate the adjustment of the tool engagement with the screw-head.

It will he seen from the foregoing description that a device constructed in accordance with my invention is composed of extremely simple and cheaply-made parts and that in operation the drawing of the end pieces together by means of the compressing-screw acts to compress the expansible plug endwise and to thereby expand it laterally or in the direction of its diameter. It will be noted that in thus compressing the plug the inner side thereof is held from expanding inwardly to any considerable extent by means of the conical portions 5 and 7 of the outer and inner end pieces, so that the endwise compression of the plug results in expanding the plug forcibly and positively into engagement with the walls of thebung-hole.

lWhile I have herein shown and described what I deem to be a preferred embodiment of my invention, -yet the details thereof may be modified to some extent without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, Wish to be limited to the exact details shown except as made the subject of specic claims.

I claim as my inventionl. As a new article of manufacture, an expansible bung, comprising a hollow plug of expansible material and a pair of compressin g-disks located one at each end of said plug, each having a peripheral portion forming a flat shoulderloearing squarely against the correspondingly-shaped end margin of theplug, and an inner conical portion extending some distance within the hollow of the plug and adapted to support the interior wall of the latter against expansion inwardly when the plug is compressed endwise, interfitting longitudinally-extending projections upon said end pieces, whereby they are held from rotation relatively to each other, a compressingscrew extending loosely through the outer en-d member and threaded through the inner end member, said screw being headed at its threaded end to prevent disengagement of the parts and working into a sealed cavity, and the axial length of the plug as a whole beingsuch as to rest entirely within the bunghole when in compressed engagement therewith, substantially as described.

2. In combination the hollow plug 1, the disk-shaped end pieces 2, 8, the compressingscrew extending loosely through the outer end piece and threaded through the inner end piece and provided with the slotted head having the undercut recesses 17, the headed inner end projecting within the sealed cavity 14E', the pair of parallel prongs 17 upon the member 2 and the cooperating rib 18 upon the member 3, substantially as described. Y

GEORGE W. BERNAUER.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK C. GooDwIN, ADA H. BARNES. 

